Trace-fastener.



J. c. GRUTGHPIBLD.

TRACE FASTBNBR.

APPLICATION FILED IAN. 20, 1 910. 973,630, i v Patented 0011.25, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. c. GRUTGHPIBLD.

TRACE FASTBNEE.

APPLIOATION rILHD mman, 1910.

Patented Oct. 25, 1910.

A2 slums-SHEET 2.

JAMES C. CRUTCHFIELD, OF GREENSBORO, NORTHCAROLINA.

TRACE-FASTENER.:

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 'iOct; 25, 1910.

.Application filed January 20, 1910. Seria1N,o.v539,08G.

To all whom t may concern.

Be it knownthat I, JAMEs- C. CRUTCH- FIELD, a citizen of the United States, reside ing at Greensboro, in the county of Guilford and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trace-Fasteners, of whichthe following is aispecification., reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to improvements in trace fasteners.

The object of the invention is to provide a simpleand practical device of this character consisting of a swingle tree tip so mounted that it may beL turned either into longitudinal.alinement-with the swingle tree to serve as a guide for the trace in its apr plication to or the removalfrom the swingle tree, or atright angles to the swingle tree to serve as,- aloclrfor retainingthe trace on the. swingle tree.

Withthe. above and other objects in View, the invention consists ofv the novel construction, combination and arrangement ofparts, hereinafterfully described and claimed, and illustrated inl the accompanying drawings in which Figure-Lis a perspective-view of one end of a swingle treeshowing my improved trace fastener arranged thereon and 1 positioned to locl; the trace, the latter beingindicatedin dotted lines; Fig.. 2is asimilar view showing the `guiding;andloclring member turned into longitudinalfalinementwith the swingle tree to permitof. the ready. applicationand removal of the trace; Figs. Sandri-are longitudinal sectionalviews taken` onV planes at right anglestoeach other, the guidingV and locking member beingin the position shown in Fig..2; Fig.; is asectional viewsimilar to Fig. 3 but showingthe guiding and locking member in its upright position for retaining the trace onthe swingle tree; Fig. 6 is la perspective view of the blank' from which the guiding andy locking member is formed; Fig. 7 is a view similar toFig. 1 butv showing, aslightly modified form of the guiding and. locking member; Fig, 8 is a sectionalview through the guiding andlocking.V member shown in Fig, 7 and. Figs. 9 and 10. are sectional views through other modified forms of the invention.

Referring tothe-drawings by numeral1 denotes a portionof a-swingle tree or simi.- lar trace carrierI and 2 denotes a body portion of my improved trace fastener or connection, said body, portion being here shown as vformed separate from thel swingle tree andsecured thereto, although itwill be understoodthat itk may he integral with the swingletreeif desired. This body. portion 2 is here shownas having a reduced-outer;

end 3k containing a notch or gro.ove,4.which forms-aseat for the trace, the latter` being indicatedby., thelnumeral 5. The. reduced endis formedwith acentrally arranged, inwardly extending, notch 6 which also eX- tends vertically andfhas formed in its bottom a recess or seat 7 The recess `6 ldivides the end 3 into spaced ears or'lugs S, between which isfarranged a forwardly and rearwardly extendingpivot pin9-for a longitudinally slotted trace guiding andlocking member 10.` This member: may be variously constructedfbut asy illustrated in Figs. l to 6 inclusive ofthe.- drawings it comprises a head'll, a reducedzstemor shank. 12, and a further reduced tonguevor tenonl, the latter being-1 adapted to ,enter the seator` socket 7 (when thestem 12fenters the. recess 6 in the body member 2. The headll is preferably tapered iboth longitudinally and transverselyv so that it is wedge shapedbr arrowshaped for the purpose of permittingthe trace to be readily applied to or removedfrom the'body member 2A when said member' 10 is turned into longitudinal alinement with they latter. Said member 10 is also preferably made from apiece of sheet steel or other metal by cuttingva blank as shown in Fig. 6, and then bending its reduced central portion upon itself to provide the tapered headll, and then further bending inwardly or offsetting the two ends of the piece toprovide the parts 12, 13. Vhile this is the preferred manner of constructing the member 10 I wish it understood that it may be otherwise constructed.

For the purpose of retaining the guiding andlocking member 10 in either of its two positions I provide a suitable catch which is preferably carried by saidv member and adapted to co-act with the pivot pin 9,. This catch which is designated generally by the numeral 14, as shown in Figs. l to 5 inclusive, is formed from a leaf4 spring` which has one end securedby a rivet or other fastening l5 in the reduced outer endA of the head 11, its intermediate portion curvedflongitudinally to providea finger piece 16and its free endshaped to provide a shouldered hook 17 adapted to engage with the pin 9.

The curved portion or finger piece 16 projects slightly beyond the side edge of the head 11 so that it can be pressed inwardly by the thumb or one of the fingers of the hand which grasps the member 10, and thereby spring the hook 17 out of engagement with the pin 9. It will be noted that the catch 13 is so constructed and arranged that it will engage the pin 9 in either of the two positions of the member 10 and thereby retain said member in either of its positions. If desired the end of the spring 14 which is riveted may be extended and curved to provide a. resilient brace 18 to bear against the inner face of the curved portion 16.

Instead of constructing the member 10 from a single piece of metal it may be formed from two similar side pieces 19 and an intermediate spacing piece 20, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 of the drawings. In such case transverse rivets 21 unite the parts 19, 20, and one of said rivets serves to fasten the spring catch 13a.

Instead of making the trace guiding and locking member 10 hollow and of sheet metal. said member may be made solid as indicated at 22 in Fig. 9 of the drawings. lVhen the member 10 is thus constructed the spring catch 13b is of substantially right angular shape and is seated in a recess 1n one face of the guiding and locking member. This spring 13b has one end fixed as at 15a, and its other end provided with a push button linger piece 16a, its intermediate portion being provided with a shoulder or hook 17 a for engagement with the pin 9a.

In Fig. 10 of the drawing I have shown still another modified form of the invention which is similar to the one shown in Fig. 9 but which has a different form of spring catch. This catch 13c consists of a spring having one end secured in the solid outer portion of the guiding and locking member as shown at 15b, and its other end formed with a shoulder or hook 17" adapted to engage the pin 9b. The intern'iediate portion of the spring 13C has a laterally projecting branch or arm 1Gb which carries a projecting head or push button adapted to be pressed inwardly to release the catch from the pin.

In use, when it is desired to apply the trace to a swingle tree or remove it therefrom the member 10 is turned into longitudinal valinement with the member 2 and swingle tree, as shown in Fig. 2 so that the trace may be readily7 passed over the member 10 and engaged with the notch or seat et, or disengaged from said parts. After the trace has been applied or engaged with the seat et and the member 2, the head 11 of the member 10 is grasped with the thumb bearing upon the finger piece 16 of the catch, and while said linger piece is pressed inwardly to disengage the hook 1T from the pin 9 the member 10 is pulled outwardly to disengage its tongue 13 from the recess T, and said member is then swung upwardly to the perpendicular position shown in Fig.

Vhen in this upright position the member is pushed downwardly to cause the spring catch to again engage the pin 9 and thereby lock the member 10 in such upright position. lhen in the latter position it will effectively prevent the trace from slipping ofiI of the body member and it can not possibly work loose and swing over into longitudinal alinement with the swingle tree, in which position it must be placed before the trace can be removed.

The construction and operation of the several modified forms of the invention will be readily understood from the foregoing explanation taken in connection with the drawing, and it is therefore thought that further description is unnecessary.

Various changes in the form, proportion and arrangement of parts may be made within the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A trace fastener comprising' a member having a trace-receiving end formed with a vertically extending recess, the inner wall of said recess having an inwardly extending seat, a pivot pin arranged in said recess, a trace guiding and locking member slotted to receive said pivot pin and having a reduced end to enter said seat in the recess when the two members are in longitudinal alinement, and a movable shouldered dog carried by the trace guiding and locking member and movable with respect thereto, whereby it may be moved into or out of engagement with said pivot pin.

2. A trace fastener comprising a member having a trace-receiving end formed with a vertically extending recess, the inner wall of said recess having an inwardly extending seat, a pivot pin arranged in said recess, a trace guiding and locking member slotted to receive said pivot pin and having a reduced end to enter said seat in the recess when the two members are in longitudinal alinement, and a spring dog carried by the trace guiding and locking member and having a shouldered portion to engage said pivot pin and a finger piece whereby it may be moved to retract its shouldered portion from engagement with said pivot pin.

3. A trace fastener comprising a member having a trace-receiving end formed with a vertically extending recess, the inner wall of said recess having an inwardly extending seat, a pivot pin arranged in said recess, a

trace guiding and locking` member slotted to receive said pivot pin and having a reduced end to enter said seat in the recess when the two members are in longitudinal alinement, and a dog arranged within said CII trace guiding and locking member and composed of a longitudinally curved spring`secured in the last mentioned member, and provided with a beveled face and a shoulder for engagement with said pivot pin, the longitudinally curved portion of said spring dog projecting beyond the side face of said member to form a finger piece.

t. A trace fastener comprising a member having a trace-receiving end formed with a vertically extending recess, the inner Wall of said recess having an inwardly extending seat, a pivot pin arranged in said recess, a trace guiding and locking member slotted to receive said pivot pin and having a reduced end to enter said seat in the recess when the two members are in longitudinal alinement, and a locking dog arranged within said trace guiding and locking member and composed of a leaf spring having its intermediate portion fixed in the outer end of the last mentioned member, one end of said spring being curved longitudinally to provide a projecting finger piece and its extremity being formed with a beveled face and a shoulder for engagement with said pivot pin, and the other end of said spring being curved and engaged with the linger piece to provide a resilient brace.

5. A trace holder comprising a member having a trace-receiving end formed with a recess, the inner wall of said recess containing an inwardly extending seat, a pivot pin arranged in said recess, a trace guiding and locking member formed from a strip of sheet metal folded upon itself at its center and bent to form a tapered body portion and a reduced end, the reduced end being slotted longitudinally and having a portion to enter said seat in the recess of the first mentioned member, the formation of said reduced end of the trace guiding and locking member providing a shoulder for engagement with the outer extremity of the first mentioned member, and a beveled and shouldered spring pawl carried by the trace guiding and locking member for engagement with said pivot pin.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES C. CRUTCHFIELD-. litnesses J. M. ALLRoD, A. R. HINsHAw. 

